Hinata Wakaba
Hinata Wakaba (若葉 ひなた Wakaba Hinata) is a fighting game character from the Rival Schools series of 3D fighting games. She first appeared in Rival Schools: United By Fate, being the first student to tag along in Batsu's search for his missing mother. Biography Hinata, the "Whirlwind School Girl" Despite her size, Hinata is a smart girl who excels in almost all kinds of sports. Her proficiency in hand-to-hand fighting is said to be at par with those who compete at the national level. It is revealed that she received her training via correspondence course, but the identity of her trainer remains undisclosed up to this day. Being a very curious girl, she just can't keep still, and would often run around off campus after school. She can be sometimes be a bit of a smart-aleck because of her winning spirit; but other than that, she is a cheerful and lively person who lives the usual life of a modern schoolgirl. 'Appearance' Hinata has short brown hair with a white headband on her forehead and brown eyes. She wears a blue sleeveless shirt under a short sleeve white button shirt with a pink ribbon in the collar, blue skirt, white panties, white socks and white and yellow shoes. In her alternate costume as "Hinata2", she wears a white short sleeve blouse and red bloomers as her hair is golden brown. In School Life Mode in Nekketsu Seisyun Nikki 2, Hinata's hair is brown instead of golden brown. She can be seen without her white headband in some occasions during the events of the month. Story 'Rival Schools: United By Fate' Before Batsu was transferred to Taiyo High, the school was somewhat a downtrodden place. She wanted her schoolmates to fight along with her, but nobody had the courage to do so. That is, until Batsu came into the picture, with a mission in mind--to find his missing mother. Although Batsu didn't want to have Hinata along, she still went with him, helping him out. Her efforts eventually paid off; news of her cooperation with Batsu inspired many students to take up martial arts, much to her surprise. 'Project Justice' In Project Justice, Hinata again joins Batsu and Kyosuke Kagami in investigating the new threat to the schools. Her fate in the Taiyo High story varies; in one story she is kidnapped by Kurow and eventually saved by Pacific High School students, or leads Taiyo's investigation in Batsu's absence and is later saved by him when attacked by Kurow. Arsenal, combat style and fighting strategy Hinata, when played correctly, can become quite a nuisance to her opponent. One of the keys for players is to remember that her back/down Heavy Kick is excellent as a Tardy Counter, and can lead to some high-damage air combos when used in the right instances. For instance, after blocking an opponent's projectile or slow-recovery special move, Hinata can use the Tardy Counter for great results. Also, using quick, poking Light Punches, followed by either a throw or a Fiery Dance Kick can be quite troublesome. Players must always be ready to cut short a Textbook Combo and come out with a throw. This can keep an opponent on the wary side. Hinata's Team-Up Technique is pretty quick, and it's a great move to get players out of jams while powering up her teammate with Burning Vigor. Once it is performed, there will lots of Burning Vigor available for the teammate to use in the fight. 'Special Moves' *'Energy Focus Palm'(Japanese: 気功掌底 Kikou Shoutei) - Hinata unleashes a short-range energy burst from her palm. Its Hard Punch version can be made to deal up to a maximum of five hits by repeatedly pressing the punch button. *'Sunrise Punch' (Japanese: 昇陽拳 Shouyouken) - Hinata does a jumping twirl roughly resembling Ken's Shoryuken. Depending on the punch button pressed for this move's button combination, Hinata may or may not do a sidestep before executing this move. Good as an anti-air attack. *'Fiery Dance Kick' (Japanese: 炎舞脚 Enbukyaku) - Hinata does three spin-kicks, and this has two versions, depending on the kick button pressed for this move's button combination. Both versions are also usable in the air. Version One An exact copy of Sakura's Shunpuukyaku, wherein Hinata does a helicopter kick. Version Two Hinata does three flying spin-kicks that set the opponent on fire for a brief moment. *'Consecutive Kick Blast' (Japanese: 連脚弾 Renkyakudan) - An air-only move. Hinata kicks her shoes 45 degrees downward. The weird thing here is that she is able to kick a third shoe, when she is wearing only two. Best used against opponents approaching from the ground by dashing. 'Burning Vigor Attacks' *'Assured Victory Constant Punching' (Japanese: 必勝連撃拳 Hisshou Rengekken) - This has a maximum range of approximately four steps. Hinata rushes forward, delivers a fast barrage of punches, and ends with a Sunrise Punch that briefly sets the opponent ablaze. While Hinata is approaching the opponent, she cannot be fazed by almost any attack, including Burning Vigor versions of projectile attacks, e.g. Hideo's Shimazu-ryuu Seihaken. Recommended as a Tardy Counter. *'Spiralling Fiery Dance Kick' (Japanese: 螺旋炎舞脚 Rasen Enbukyaku) - Powered version of the Fiery Dance Kick. Hinata does five, ascending forward spin kicks that briefly set the opponent ablaze. Best used either as an anti-air attack, or an Air Combo finisher. 'Team-Up Technique' *'Guts-a-Hundredfold' (Japanese: ガッツ百倍 Guts Hyakubai) - Hinata approaches the active character to cheer the latter up. This fills the Guts meter to maximum level. *'Crossfire Kick-' The active character will uppercut her opponent into the air then leaps up and smash punches them as both Hinata and the active character will cross-kick the opponent (as Hinata2). 'Party-Up Technique' *Hinata does the Final Symphony. Trivia * She lives with her parents and older sister Asaka, who is a college student. Where Asaka studies has never been disclosed to this day. * Talent-wise, Hinata loves to sing and dance. * She is good at Japanese language, physical education, and social studies; but fares poorly in calligraphy. * Hinata may be known for her national-level proficiency in martial arts, but her real skill is in origami, the Japanese art of paper folding. * Hinata does not belong to any club in their school, but many people ask for her help in various clubs. * Hinata is close friends with Sakura Kasugano of Street Fighter fame, and Natsu Ayuhara. It is revealed that they were all friends since childhood. Although she knows Kei (pictured in the gallery below), Hinata doesn't know her as well as Sakura, her closest friend. * Hinata also appears, along with Natsu and Shoma, in UDON's Street Fighter Legends: Sakura comic. * An alternate version of Hinata (Hinata2) can be unlocked in Free Mode by pressing Start while selecting her. In this alternate form, Hinata's hair is golden-brown in color, and she wears a long-sleeved blouse. * The Kanji for her last name is sometimes misread as Wakabi. But during the production of the US version of United by Fate, her name was initially misread as Wakana. This error was corrected in Project Justice. The reason for the reading error is that the Kanji for her last name can be read either as Wakana or Wakaba; either is correct. * She is voiced by Tomoe Hanba. * Hinata was planned to be included in Tatsunoko vs. Capcom as a playable character but was dropped. * She made a cameo appearance in Felicia's Capcom Fighting Evolution ending. Gallery Image:HinataPt.png|Portrait Image:RivalHinata.png|''Rival Schools'' Image:Hinata.png|''Rival Schools'' Image:Taiyo_Group1.png|With Kyosuke and Batsu Image:Hinata Wakaba.gif|''Project Justice'' Image:HinataSakura&Kei.png|With Sakura (middle) and Kei (right) RivalCoverArt.png|Hinata in Shiritsu Justice Gakuen Legion OF Heroes RivalComic3.png|Rival Schools United By Fate RivalComicSS.png|With Natsu on the battle Image:CapGroup3.png|With MegaMan Volnutt (on the left) and Hiryu (right) RivalEvoArt.png|Hinata Laughing at Batsu's Broken Teeth Image:CapEvoFeliciaEnding.png|Cameo in Capcom Fighting Evolution (on the right) File:Bdcf5ba46fe997944a89bccd77a0b563.jpg|Art by Omar Dogan Hinata-onimushasoul.jpg|''Onimusha Soul'' artwork Image:SFxAC_Hinata.png|''Street Fighter × All Capcom'' 1407789-34a64828d21c2983b26181da953f7727.jpg|Hinata with Natsu, Sakura, Akira, Tiffany and Kyoko Image:Batsu_and_Hinata.png|Hinata with Batsu during the first ending theme of Rival Schools 171100-133158-hinata.jpg|School Life Mode (Christmas event) of Nekketsu Seisyun Nikki 2 171091-14084-hinata.jpg|School Life Mode ending of Nekketsu Seisyun Nikki 2 images.jpg|With Kyosuke and Batsu during the beach overnight in School Life Mode of Nekketu Seisyun Nikki 2 References 'Game and Character Information' Nguyen, John. Project Justice FAQ/Move List by Puar. GameFAQs.com. Published 2001. Last accessed March 14, 2010. Tsai, Peter. FAQ/Movelist for Project Justice (Moero! Justice Gakuen) for Dreamcast/Arcade. Version 1.07. GameFAQs.com. Published July 17, 2002; last updated March 13, 2003. Last accessed March 14, 2010. Cheshire, Sophie. Project Justice: FAQ/Move List by falsehead. Final version. GameFAQs.com. Published November 5, 2001; final update December 7, 2002. Last accessed March 14, 2010. Batsu, the Doctor of Punishment. Shiritsu Justice Gakuen/Rival Schools series: Character Stories FAQ. Version 1.5 (final). GameFAQs.com. Last accessed March 14, 2010. NeoChaosX. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_characters_in_the_Rival_Schools_series List of characters in the Rival Schools series]. Wikipedia (English). Created August 20, 2007; last updated March 30, 2010. Last accessed April 1, 2010. 'Translations' Kanji translations made possible through the Kanji Romaji Hiragana Convert website. Maruyama, Chiemi. English-Kanji-Japanese/Japanese-Kanji-English Dictionary. Pasig City, Philippines: Persian Gulf Publication, 2002. ISBN 978-971-8796-37. Nakao, Seigo. Random House Japanese-English/English-Japanese Dictionary. United States: Ballantine Books, 1995. ISBN 0-345-40548-X. Category:Rival Schools Characters Category:Characters Category:Heroines Category:Female Characters Category:Heroes